Recognizing the sound and the danger it poses, Feliks ducks away reflexively from the toxic spray, calling a belated warning to his companions.
Spending a FP to reroll.
Daniel gets covered in toxic sludge that melts through his top layer of clothing. It leaves some superficial burning on his scalp and face. A servo skull comes down the alley scanning.
A robotic voice calls out "The streets are closed at this time, return to your designated work areas immediately."
Daniel grimaces as the sludge drips off of him and looks forlornly at his skimmer outfit as it melts down. He shrugs off the rags and uses them to clean himself up slightly.
Volc gives a jerk in surprise as the sludge splashes down atop his helm and grimaces as the searing liquid tries to chew away at his armor. Fortunately, he manages to resist the worst of the effect and shakes his head a bit to try to get the gunk off. "No time to check on one another. Make haste; we will lick our wounds once we are to safety."
With daylight fading and the group of acolytes having been suitably harrowed, Ciaran elects to shift focus to locating a proper place to rest and regroup. She had a good deal of connections; especially in the upper hives. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult to find a quiet place to bed down.
A sound of electricity and a loud buzz comes from the floating Servo Skull. It spins and crashes. Sliding down the pipes with the grace of a gazelle is a woman in short red hair and obvious cybernetic augmentations.
The woman does not speak when she lands. She puts a finger to her lips and gives a series of hand gestures.
Feliks flinches slightly as the woman appears, she does not seem immediately hostile and he watches her curiously.
Unable to understand the meaning behind her gestures, he glances around to his companions.
Volc gives a reflexive jerk when the woman appears and his hand strays toward his warhammer. But when she neglects to make any hostile actions, he furrows his brows and drops his gaze to her hands. A curt nod is his reply and he glaces to his companions swiftly. "Quietly. We follow her. Make haste, brothers and sisters."
The stealthy woman leads you through a series of back alleys and into a opening of a ruined building that looks to be very old. There are mutants and vagrants that scatter as you enter, except for one. A large mutant stand up and lifts the blanket he was sitting on revealing a hatch. The red haired woman glances around before entering a code on the door. It opens to a stairway leading down. She motions you to follow her as she walks down.
Inside is what appears to be the remnants of an abandoned bunker that possibly dates back to the great crusade. There are old imperial symbols painted on the walls.
There is a floating Cherub repeating a portion of a prayer to the emperor. Don't mind that, it is broken. Unless you think you can fix it? The red haired woman speaks for the first time looking at Odette.
There is a desk with a map of Desoleum on it. You may refer to me as Red by the way. The woman bows briefly. I was tasked with another mission, but that is over now. I have been reassigned to assist you. I have made this map, but I am unable to find Lan's mansion on it.
Ciaran feels an air of calm come over her as she enters the bunker. Finally, some place more familiar to her sensibilities.
"Wonderful that such a place as this still exists. It should be a shrine, I think, to the glories of the Sisterhood. Failing that, though, it will serve us well, Emperor willing."
Ciaran eyes the map with interest, though she can glean no further information then what is already written.
"So, Red is it? I am Sister Ciaran of the Ordo Famulous. You are wonderfully resourceful. Tell me, how much have you been told of the mission? Until now we had been attempting to reach the apex in the hopes of tracking Lan directly. Or, failing that, collecting information on the previous victims."
Red nods to Sister Ciaran I know who you are noble sister.When I was tasked to assist you, all I was told was to help you find some noble named Lans Guilijan and to give you access to this safe house. The apex is not going to be easy to access. Nor is it really a place to be wondering around without a destination. Most lifts are to a specific house, and some require special transport. There are auto-defenses with advanced targeting spirits. I was told you have a member of the mechanicus among you. I have collected some data slates from my...other assignments that I have been unable to access. Perhaps she can sooth the angry spirits? She says looking at Odette again.
"Thanks for pulling us out of there Red." Daniel lights another Lho-Stick and takes a moment to relax now that he was out of the tight streets. The frontier worlds had never had so many people and Daniel never seemed to get used to the crowds, no matter how long he'd been on hive Desoleum.
"It sounds like you've been around here a little longer than most of us. Have you ever heard the name Lans Guilijan - even in passing?"
No, and I would remember. It wouldn't surprise me to find he has become a cloudboy. There has been a rise in them recently. Noble born that want a taste of excitement that come down to play hive ganger. Some of them are quite effective though.
Feliks joins the others in following the strange woman, pleased that someone seems to know where they should go even if only for the night. It had been a long and confusing day. These hive worlds always gave Feliks a claustrophobic feeling.
The sight of the mutants make Feliks distinctly uncomfortable, even more than the strange woman does. Mutants were something of which to be wary, suspicious; they all too often posed a threat to the Imperium. But these mutants are not his mission, and he will not jeopardize the mission.
Once they pass into the hidden bunker he feels more at home. He speaks to the strange woman for the first time, "A cloudboy? One of those upper hivers who come to the lower hive to do illegal things for the thrill of it?" His voice holds all the contempt for such a choice, "Would other cloudboy gangs be willing to speak of him? How much 'thieve's honor' is there among them?"
Cloudboys often crave recognition, but they use aliases. One such fellow that has made a name for himself is a babyface called Skinner. The babyfaces hangout at the Screaming Wheel, a jet bike bar in the Gallowsway.
|
Odette balked a touch when her companions followed the red-haired stranger so willingly, but she didn't voice her own protests as they followed the stranger through the streets. She kept her eyes open for any threats, or places of potential interest en route. You never know what could be a potential resource in the future.
~ ~ ~
Once at the hatch, Odette hesitates before going in behind her companions. Obviously they knew something about this red head she didn't. A rather broken bit of machinery, a superfluously decorative piece in her mind, caught her attention. At the suggestion that perhaps she could fix the odd little thing, she gave an enthusiastic nod, forgetting all about her mistrust of the woman for the moment.
She tinkered for a bit with it, pulling and twisting bits here and there. "Hmm, looks like... A code. Some coordinates in the lower hive. Gallowsway?"
Once finished with it, she looks about the room. "Got more to fix?"
Volc quietly nods his thanks as the rest of the group pokes around here and there, keeping his thoughts to himself for the moment. He takes a bit of time to peruse the map in question, making mental notes of spots of interest.
"Red, may I ask why you have labeled these lifts in such a way? And whether you deem it a viable option to use skimmers from these estates here?" He reaches out to point out the estates in question for her and anyone else listening.
The Red haired woman looks impressed at Odette. Yes, these data slates here. I can not access them. The spirits are very angry when I invoke them She hands Odette two Data Slates that have a bit of blood on them.
Red looks at Volc and says I have not been able to discern a way up the lifts without violence. There are sophisticate machine spirits that are able to see through deception and my skin suit. Some nobles are so secluded and rich they have their own private Skimmers and that is the only way to reach them.
Ciaran listens for a long while.
"It seems then, if we can't access the apex, then we need look elsewhere for our noble. We have a set of coordinates, and I imagine Red's hunch is more than a little reliable, so what say we pay a visit to the Gallowsway?"
Feliks glances at Odette as she fixes the broken cherub, "What are the coordinates, Odette? If we are going to be in the Gallowsway we might as well check them out."
Volc leans in closer and traces a few lines across the map with his finger, making a great deal of mental notes. "We have options, it seems. If I were to wager, I would say that if our quarry is here," he says as he points out a secluded villa not far from the Screaming Wheel. "If he has an association with the babyfaces, it is likely he is located there at least some of the time."
"Further, should we find need of it, Fort Desoleum is just there," he continues, gesturing to another location on the map, "there is an Oathbondsmen precinct here, and a bazaar near the Great Gate. I imagine we will need to acquire more gear. However, I support going to Gallowsway."
"I will leave the rest up to you. I have fulfilled my obligation. I need to attend to other manners. You may come and go as you wish." Red leaves a piece of parchment on the desk with the code to the door to this bunker on it.
"Very well. We will rest here for a while, and head for the Gallowsway this evening."
Ciaran finds a spot in the bunker to call her own and secures her Chainblade, Hand Flamer, Flak Armor, Skimmer Pilot Outfit (changing back into her lower hive one), and the ammunition for those. The rest she keeps with her. Afterwards she rests a while.
When Red leaves, Odette and Feliks are noticeably more relaxed. The bunker is small and Spartan, what purpose it might have held is long lost to the millenniums.
Feliks breathes a sigh of relaxation after Red leaves. His voice is quiet as he speaks to the others, "I will bid you all a good rest." Then he finds a quiet corner or a sleeping cell and begins muttering a quiet meditation under his breath.
Group Disguise
Sister Ciaran-43
Odette-73
Volc-30
Daniel-17
Feliks- 32
As you make your way down the Gallowsway having learned the timeing of the lifts, you come to a very confusing bit of interconnecting roads, paths, and catwalks. The area is populated with all sorts of underhivers.
Daniel stares as the pathways around him trying to make sense of where they might need to go. He grabs a passing underhiver and wheels the man around to face him. "Where is the Screaming Wheel?" he says as he glares hard at the man. The Underhiver stares him down a moment before pointing down the road towards a set of confusing crossroads. "It's tha' way." The Underhiver shrugs off Daniels grip and laughs - obviously neither helpful nor intimidated by the Ex-Arbite.
Volc frowns down to the underhiver that Daniel grabs and his entirely unhelpful bit of information, but stretches out a hand to his comrade. He pats Daniel on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile and nods in the direction of one of the bizarrely twisting crossroads. "This way, brother. I think I may be able to make sense of this labyrinth."
You come down the a slight hill and see the neon sign for the Screaming Wheel it is a jet biker bar. This area seems void of any Sanctionaries or Arbites. Several bikers are out front of the bar doing tricks with their jet bikes. So far no one seems to be looking your way and you have seemed to keep attention off yourselves on the way here.
Volc scans the bikers and the Screaming Wheel with furrowed brows, his gaze settling on the doorman. He quirks a brow when he notes the man's current condition and leans aside to murmur quietly to Daniel, who seems to be the spokesperson for the group.
"The guard is inebriated in some form or fashion. Do with the information what you will." Afterward, he straightens and shakes his head at the horrible mistreatment of the jetbikes. He does make a mental note about the absolutely pristine one, though, just in case they need to make a quick getaway. "Shall we? Ought I lead or would you like to, Daniel?"
Apparently unaware of anything, Feliks watches the bar. As his companions point out various things they have noticed, he shakes his head slightly. Come on , Feliks. You got to be more alert than that.
Whichever of his allies lead, Feliks will drop in behind them.
Ciaran, though generally displeased to be in the vicinity of such a horrid place, does not see anything particularly out of place and thus moves forward, intent on entering the bar.
Volc falls into step just behind Ciaran and nods back to Odette in response to her comment. "Stay within my reach then, sister. We will look out for one another, yes?" By his phrasing, it is a rhetorical question. In his mind, it seems that there is no other way to get through this than to watch out for one another.
"Where does you low-cogs be thinkin' you be goin? PRIVATE CLUB!" The Doorman exclaims, his speech slurred and his face flush.
You can hear music from inside the bar and loud voices. The smells of Lho Sticks and Promethium are strong even from the other side of the door.
Volc scowls darkly and steps straight up to the doorman, with every intent to loom over him if he can or get in his face if he cannot. "Inside. We are all going inside. Get out of my way before I ensure that you will be eating your meals through a straw for the rest of your unnatural life."
The large man looks like he might respond, but falls over face first in a drugged stupor much to the enjoyment of any onlookers that laugh and jeer.
Inside the Screaming Wheel is a small bar. In the far corner you see some well dressed men wearing masks, they seem to be the "Cloudboys" you were warned about.
A mutant girl approaches you and offers you a table near the entrance and asks what you will be ordering.
Daniel sits down at the table, ordering a pitcher of cheap swill and glasses for everyone - not wanting them to seem out of place in the seedy bar.
After the servant wanders away he mutters a few words to his comrades. "Outside is a notable enforcer from the Insuratti family. He's worth a good bit of coin dead. The family isn't known to deal in Xenos artifacts though - but might be connected enough to know who does."
He runs a hand through his hair and makes a small show of leaning back and looking rather bored as he waits for his drink as he contines, "I thought I saw someone in a wide-brimmed hat and trench coat watchin' the bar across the street. It was dark though so I couldn't make much out. Might be somethin' to watch fir."
He passes a casual glance the cloud boys way to see if he can notice anything amiss.